IUCr Executive Report

The IUCr Executive Committee met in Nancy, France August 22-24, 2000. Principal topics discussed were plans for the 19th Congress and General Assembly of the IUCr in Jerusalem, the launching of a new electronic journal, a program of partial grants to needy countries for IUCr publications (see Page 11), a major initiative to support the development of crystallography in African nations, and the appointment of the Ewald Prize Committee.

Excerpts from the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting

Review of Journals

It was noted that crystallization papers in Acta D were an important category and were well suited to electronic-only publication, analogous to electronic papers in Acta C. This would be discussed within the Commission on Journals with 2002 as a possible start date. The Managing Editor reported that IUCr journal publication times had been reduced significantly.

The Executive Committee agreed with a proposal from the Working Group on Journals of the Promotion Committee that plenary speakers at IUCr Congresses should be invited to write Lead Articles for inclusion in IUCr journals. The papers would be spread across the journals and could also be collected together on a CD-ROM. Recipients of the Ewald Prize should be encouraged to provide a Lead Article.

The Editor-in-Chief reported on progress with the electronic-only journal Acta Cryst. Section E that would be launched in January 2001.

World Directory of Crystallographers

The next edition of the Directory (WDC-11) would be published in early 2002. March 2001 is the deadline to update entries via the web.

Internet services

The Committee on Electronic Publishing, Dissemination and Storage of Information acts as the IUCr Web Editorial Board. Currently there are nine mirror sites for IUCr Web services (in Australia, France, Israel, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA). The Crystallography Journals Online service was hosted by the Internet service provider UUnet. This site received about 19,000 requests per day.

Database linking

The Managing Editor planned to consult the Committee on Crystallographic Databases concerning the best way to link Crystallography Journals Onlineto appropriate databases.

The Executive Committee approved the publication of Crystallography Across the Sciences (CATS II) with Prof. Schenk as Guest Editor as the first issue of Acta A in 2002. Subscribers to other IUCr journals would receive on line access to this Special Issue.

Donations

W. E. Klee donated EUR 9,500 to the IUCr to be used to purchase volumes of International Tables for institutions in developing countries and countries of the former Eastern bloc.

The Executive Committee approved the Finance Committee recommendation that the allocation should be in the form of partial grants, similar to the model for the subscriptions initiative.

Ewald Prize

P. W. Codding has agreed to chair the Selection Committee for the Sixth Ewald Prize, to be presented in Jerusalem in 2002.

Jerusalem programme

Chairs of Commissions and Secretaries of National Committees had been asked to supply recommendations for members of the Jerusalem Programme Committee. Draft Guidelines for IUCr Congress Programme Committees had been sent to members of the Executive Committee and the Chair of the Jerusalem Congress Programme Committee on June 30, 2000.

Crystallography in Africa

At the Glasgow meeting Prof. Boeyens reported that the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) agreed to provide free copies of the Cambridge Structural Database as part of the Crystallography in Africa project. The Executive Committee had agreed to underwrite the distribution costs for three years. Boeyens reported that matching funds had been found from the South African National Science Foundation (NSF). T. Koritsanszky runs the CCDC Affiliated Centre in South Africa.

The President reported that he and Prof. Boeyens would prepare a proposal for support for African Ph.D. students to work in a South African university. The Executive Committee approved the Finance Committee recommendation that support of up to USD 6,000 p.a. for five years be allocated for two students throughout their Ph.D. studies. Additional financial support might be obtained through the ICSU/UNESCO grants program, the South African NSF, South African industry and charities such as the CCDC.

Audited accounts for 1999

The Executive Committee approved the audited accounts for 1999. The IUCr was operating at a loss of 7% of turnover owing to the strong pound and to significant expenditure on developing online services and preparation of new volumes of International Tables. The temporary operating loss is supported by the assets.

Status of membership

Ukraine was suspended for being in arrears for four years. Venezuela is three years and Argentina two years in arrears. The Executive Committee agreed that efforts should be made to attract new member countries. The President and Prof. Fuess reported that Greece and Turkey had expressed interest in applying for membership.

The summer 2001 meetings of the Finance and Executive Committees will be held in Los Angeles, CA, USA, prior to the American Crystallographic Association (ACA) meeting, July 21-26, 2001. The Congress Programme Committee will meet July 17-19, 2001.

International Union of Crystallography

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The IUCr observes the basic policy of non-discrimination and affirms the right and freedom of scientists to associate in international scientific activity without regard to such factors as ethnic origin, religion, citizenship, language, political stance, gender, sex or age, in accordance with the Statutes of the International Council for Science.